Mobile, fixed or collaborative: choosing the right robot

Build automation for change, not for a single product. For most stations with high mix that means a mobile robot, but not for all of them.

Some stations run one product for a long time. Some need a heavy robot with long reach, others a light robot for small parts. That is why our range covers mobile, fixed and collaborative ABB robots, up to 3.1 m reach and 270 kg payload. The question is which one fits which station.

When a mobile robot fits

A mobile robot makes sense when the work moves. The volume in one machine runs out, an order arrives for another, or nobody is on the floor at night. The robot is moved with a pallet truck, manually or by AGV, and docks with high precision in front of the next machine. In one case with a CNC machine, a panel bender and a press brake, a single robot served all three and was used 97 of the 168 hours in a week. You can read more in One robot, several machines.

The platform is chosen by part weight and reach:

• OpiFlex MRP 10: ABB GoFa cobot, 10 kg at 1.52 m.
• OpiFlex MRP 60: ABB IRB 4600, 40 kg at 2.55 m or 60 kg at 2.05 m.
• OpiFlex MRP 250: ABB IRB 67x0 series or IRB 660, 150–270 kg and up to 3.1 m reach.

All three come with the Dynamic Program Generator and OpiFlex fenceless safety, which also covers large robots at high speed.

When a fixed robot fits

A fixed robot is a good choice for one machine with few products and long series. There it does its job well. If you still need to add new products often, our fixed robots get the same Dynamic Program Generator and the same OpiFlex fenceless safety as the mobile ones. An operator creates a new robot program in 1–3 minutes, without robot skills.

When a cobot fits

For light parts, the ABB GoFa cobot comes in two forms, and the difference matters.

On an OpiFlex MRP 10, the GoFa gets the Dynamic Program Generator and OpiFlex fenceless safety, and the cell is CE-marked by us.

The OpiFlex Mobile Cobot is a GoFa on a mobile platform without OpiFlex fenceless safety. It is moved with a pallet truck, manually. It is programmed in ABB RAPID or Scratch, not with the Dynamic Program Generator, and OpiFlex does not CE-mark it. The installer has to meet ISO/TS 15066:2016.

Starting from the station

Which robot fits depends on your parts, your machines and how often the mix changes. We would rather hear about your stations first than start from a product. If you send us a few pictures of typical parts and tell us roughly how many products each machine runs per year, we can look at it together. Contact us.